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General discussion

HOME THEATER SYSTEMS

May 11, 2005 11:04AM PDT

A guy who works at Best Buy convinced me not to buy a home theater system because he says they get to hot and almost always break because their's to many items running at the same time in such a small box dvd, cd, speakers etc. Instead he recommended buying some speakers and a receiver which won't get to hot and using my own dvd for the H.T.system. Anyone heard of this before??

Discussion is locked

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RE;
May 11, 2005 4:35PM PDT

I don't understand; is he try sell you some expensive speakers. Why buy all these speakers if you are not putting a home theater system.

If one system produce too much heat then maybe another one might be better. Or you might just put a couple fans behind it.

He may also be a nice guy; why buy new stuffs if what you got is just as good or better.

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HT systems...
May 12, 2005 5:12AM PDT

Keep in mind that while some BB employees actually know their stuff and are trying to give you good advice, many are just trying to upsell you.

I assume you?re talking about the difference between home-theatre-in-a-box (receiver and dvdp in one box + satellites and sub, all from the same manufacturer) vs. separate components (receiver, dvdp, real speakers and/or sub). If this is the case, then I don?t really see what the heat issue is. I haven?t heard of too many problems with HTiB systems overheating, but I guess it's possible. I suspect many of them now use digital amps which run cool and allow for smaller, cuter boxes (something like my Panasonic XR-25 receiver but with a built-in dvd player).

There certainly are performance issues though. The HTiB packages are usually underpowered, have misleading ratings, come with a crappy sub that has to operate at high frequencies to compensate for the tiny speakers (means you can hear where the sub is) and only work in small/medium-sized rooms. On the positive side, they're decor-friendly and take up a small footprint.

If you buy real speakers (something that will go down to around 60Hz) and a 10? or 12? sub and a receiver that actually puts out 80-100wpc with all channels driven (20Hz-20KHz), then you?ll have a system that will allow you to appreciate the movie soundtrack and dialogue. Replace the speakers with full-range floorstanders (25Hz- 20+KHz) and you?ll notice a significant improvement, particularly if you listen to multi-channel music (ASCD, DVD-A). Taken one step further, If you buy a separate preamp/processor and a multichannel power amplifier (think Anthem, Adcom, Rotel, Classe, Bryston, Lexicon, etc.) to add to your full-range speakers, then you have quasi-reference level sound. Many of these get hot too! Any of these systems will benefit from the best dvd player you can afford (garbage in, garbage out theory), and the odds are low that the HTiB player fits this criteria.

Finally, there are the price issues. Not only do you have to spend considerably more on components over HTiB, you also have to buy speaker wire, a digital cable, component video or DVI/HDMI cable and likely some interconnects. For my purposes, I?m quite content with a multi-channel receiver (110wpc), full-range speakers and a big-*** sub. I don't spend a lot on cables and interconnects. Hope that helps some.

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Well said..
May 13, 2005 10:29AM PDT

Well said bent.

But I still dont get the difference between HTiB and doing it yourself! Final result would be the same.

My advice would be - if you know exactly what you want, and excatly how well each component would fit with the others (i.e. matching technical specs of components), do it for yourself. If you don't know what is the difference between a speaker with 3 drivers and a speaker with 2 drivers, go for HTiB.

I have got an HTiB (Onkyo HTS760), which does not include a dvd-player (basically, reciever + 6 speakers + 1 subwoofer). I then added dvd player + PS2 + digital cable box, and hooked them all up with a HD compatible Panasonic projecter - and well, I now have my true home-'theater'. And I have never had any 'getting hot' issue.

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thanks
May 14, 2005 2:08AM PDT

My problem with HTiB is that most of them are cheap (built to a price point) and they try to jam all of the electronics into a tiny attractive box that usually ends up being underpowered (and then they fudge the power numbers by driving one or two channels at 1KHz@8 ohms). I'm not saying they're all bad, but many aren't very good.

My small room HT set-up is similar to an HTiB, but I chose my components separately for their strengths rather than getting a generic system from one manufacturer. It wasn't expensive, but it sounds better (and plays louder more cleanly) than just about any HTiB outfit I've heard. It doesn't take up much more room either.

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Re: HTS
May 14, 2005 1:51AM PDT

Just to throw my 2 cents in...
I have an Onkyo, Home Theater in a Box (HTiB) set up...do not remember the exact model...I would say that if you go with a HTiB, research them well, there is a big difference in quality between many of the set ups. You can get a HTiB starting around 250-300$ or you can buy one that costs over $1000 dollars. With a HTiB, an expensive one does not garrentee that it is the best, so the idea is to find the one that is in the middle range of prices that gives you the most for your money. As far as I know, ONKYO systems are the best for this...I got mine at a BEST BUY, for right around 500$ and I love it!!! It is a 6:1 system, did not come with a DVD player and has a powered sub woofer. Movies sound great on it, and it has plenty of various inputs for all your home theater needs. As far as I know it has never over heated and I even have the DVD player sitting on top of the reciever. IF you go with a HTiB, research them...you can get ones that are inexpensive, but you get what you pay for with these. YOu can get ones that are more expensive, but many of these are overpriced for what you get, ie the price does not back up the quality. I would very much recommend an ONKYO specifically for a HTiB...best value. IF you go componant...it is a whole other ball game.

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HTIB
Jun 17, 2005 12:30AM PDT

You get what you pay for, or less. For what a pretty rotten HTIB costs at Best Buy, you could do a little research and buy a much better system. Go to sites such as Audiogon.com, Videogon.com ask some questions, look though the Forums to get some information -as you are doing here- and go through their classifieds to find price points.

You can buy used, and much better equipment, and get some expert opinions on setting up your system. Speakers, cables, players, and even recievers/processors (good ones), don't break down often, and can be bought used. Also, they hold their value, and you can sell to upgrade without taking a huge, if any, loss.

There is a big difference between an Arcam, Denon, or NAD reciever, and the crap sold at Best Buy. Also, you will learn of some sublime speaker companies such as Magnepan, that you may never have heard of that make amazing speakers. Magnepan sells direct a planar magnetic, on wall speaker for $300/pair that when mated with a subwoofer will asolutely amaze you. Of course they also sell some of the best planar speaker ever made that range in price from $500 to 14,000 as well. Just as an example.

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Know the specs and what the room can handle
Jun 17, 2005 6:33AM PDT

Last night I had a Radio Shack guy say the same thing ... ''all in one'' amp/DVD/VCR units tend to overheat. I have no idea if that is true, but ...

Past audio equipment experience has shown that if you take the time to ''build'' a matched system, you have more flexibility, better over-all quality, approximately the same total cost (maybe a bit more), and componet ''replacability'' (ie: VCR broken? Replace it not whole system).

Key being: Match-up componet specs ... wattage, frequencies, connections, screen size, pixels, etc., and your personal needs. The only advantage of boxed systems is they tend to (usually) be matched up spec wise.

Do not be overly impressed with wattage as how often are you going to use your set-up in a dance hall? From what I've been seeing in stores, the HTiB folks are pumping up wattage without improving frequency range, etc. A typical 14x18 den can only handle just so much wattage, screen size, etc so don't over-buy. Remember, at low volume (or with a bad amp/speaker frequency range match) you may be missing the speakers ''sweet spot'' so even the biggest/best/most expensive speakers will sound cruddy.

Speaker positioning, frequency range, and (mostly) room accoustics are much more important and likely to affect the end result (what your ears actually hear).

$10,000 spent on a system for room next to the rail-road tracks (or on a deaf/blind old man like me) is a waste.

Good luck,

Goodtime Charlie, VA

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This must be a joke
Jun 18, 2005 3:54AM PDT

stacked in my equipment cabinit I have a v.c.r, lazer disk player dolby dig high power amp, d.v.d player dish 811 satillate box and d.v.i. switcher never a problem with running hot and the equipment has been there for years I have never heard of such a thing also i suject you buy equipment from a high end home theater business in the end you will save money and have an awsome home theater system not to make you feel bad but I found that sales people at Frys and circut city new nothing about home theater and if you do buy equipment from your friend go talk to an expert first please reply stewart norrie

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Stacked -vs- Combined -vs- total ventalation
Jun 24, 2005 3:21AM PDT

When I have an external disk drive for my PC I dont worry about its heat affecting my CPU, but when I install a disk drive in my PC I do think about impact of the heat.

I believe that quality manufacturers have thought about this when designing all-in-one units, but second rate manufacturers may cut corners for looks, etc.

Either way if your PC or home theater set-up is in a small improperly or insufficently ventilated space, the heat could cause problems.

I still think, split componets offer flexibility that an all-in-one unit does not (ie: on-the-mother-board video -vs- seperate video card).

GoodTime Charlie, VA

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Not to defend the Best Guy but you maybe missing the point
Jun 24, 2005 5:37AM PDT

Howdy,

I am new here. Bought a plasma two weeks ago, and continued shopping around for an HTIB.

I just picked up my HTIB (SONY DAV-FR10W) two days ago, and spent a couple hours hooking stuff up the same night. It has a nice attractive, shiny metal case, with low profile and a rather broad flat top, flat enough to tempt placing another device on top of it. But, it was immediately apparent that the whole receiver runs extremely hot, hence the large shiny metal surfaces to maximise heat dissipation.

I believe the 'experts' here will agree that SONY is one of the better, (not the best by any stretch of the imagination), but one of the better HTIB manufacturers, especially with their Dream Systems. Nevertheless, the system is pretty compact, with DVD multistack, tuner, AMP etc. built right into a single compact box.

Electronic equipment generate heat as a consequence of the resistance losses when electricity flows through individual components. The more complex the device, the more components it is likely to have, and therefore, it is probably likely to generate more heat; not necessarily, but more likely than not (there are other factors such as quality, design, power, length of time on etc).

Electronic components have operating temp ranges that, when exceeded, components could fail. When the box is compact, devices are probably less spacious, and consequently, air flow may be more restricted, which means that cooling through the metal case, and specifically the large surface area on top and the bottom may become more important in cooling. When the device is low profile, and other (usually heat producing) components are stacked on top, one is left with a 'thermal' nightmare. Under those conditions, individual components inside the single box could fail.

In addition, when everything is in one box (tuner, CD/DVD player, amp etc), when one fails, the whole system is down. When you use components HT system, your DVD player fails, you toss it and replace for less than the cost of having a technician diagnose the problem as would be the case in an all-in-one system.

So, although I find that the average sales person at the Best Buy/Circuit City outlets are not particurlarly well informed, probably what ZEPHYR's friend at Best Buy was referring to was the components inside the box of an all-in-one system, as opposed to individual components of a true HT stacked system overheating, and he probably has a point there, though, in my research I never came across a reports of HTIBs having a (significant) disproportion of failure.

Having said all that, I personally preferred the HTIB vs stacked system, and was partial towards a SONY system to complement my 50" XBR plasma, though I may return it because it does not have a DVI to take full advantage of my HDTV's digital capabilities...

Bucky.